The Next Big Thing

we interrupt this blog for a special keynote speech from Jony Ive, Senior Vice President of Design for Apple, Inc. : "What we wanted to do was create something really special for transportation in this new millenium. Here at Apple we've wanted to create something new and innovative. You know, transportation is something many hold really dear to their hearts. In this new century we wanted to tackle space exploration from a totally new perspective. When we imagine all the stars and all the possibilities our species have yet to conquer, this is the base from which we can begin to create something really special. And I think we've done it. We started with a new vessel from which a team will conduct a new mission. Using the newest and most advanced hardware we could patent, our designers have engineered something really special. A vessel capable of interstellar travel. Using our newest A12906 processor, this intergalactic exploration platform will reach the farthest galaxies enabling us to explore strange and different worlds. Possibly new life and new civilizations. Here at Apple we want you to boldly go where no other man has gone before. We call it the iStarship E. This ship is the most advanced and capable starship our universe has ever seen. With its sleek and bold presence you'll know that Saturn or Ursa Minor are really only the beginning. We're really excited and we've already begun to apply for patents for the next starship. When our founder dreamt of controlling this world, we wanted to go beyond that. Now, with a warp drive and self-containing shields, we will control the universe. And the controls utilize that touch interface that you've all grown to love since the introduction of the iPhone. I really believe this changes everything. Again." So, there you have it. The newest product went beyond IOS 7 and kicked NASA's butt. Next week's blog will concentrate on Apple's newest creation - they've taken a car and used the robotic vacuum cleaner Rumba and created something even more special. And they're calling it the iCarumba. My name is Rueuhy and I approve this blog.

Politically Speaking I Don't Like You

Anonymity is the best disguise. At least that's what Herbert Hoober once said. He wasn't really known for anything. He joked that the only thing that separated him from being president was a "b". No one really knew him except for a few fellow park bench bird feeders in central park. Everyday, around 11am, he would sit down with the rest of the bird feeders in central park and spend a few minutes throwing bread crumbs to those nasty little creatures. He would supply the bread and the birds would pelt my car with their refuse. Not exactly the best situation but he did own the car wash down a couple of blocks and he would give me free tokens as a way of saying "I'm sorry". Of course I would still take out my bb gun around 11:30 everyday and try my luck. Stupid creatures. But Herbert was an idealist. He would ponder the greater meaning of life and give you whatever he came up with. One day, quite by accident, he was hit by an exterminator while crossing the street. Obviously the exterminator felt that it was a waste of his time and resources to try to get rid of the birds when Herbert and his buddies would continue feeding them on a daily basis. Herbert felt no ill will towards the man but the lawsuit he filed against the man's company certainly helped in buying the daily bread and a car wash. And Herbert would recognize these funny little moments and say something extra ordinary such as "Money doesn't grow on trees but it helps buy bread." He was a pure genius. And it was little euphemisms, such as that one, that would cause you to scratch your head a little and then laugh your butt off when its true meaning hit you on the side of your head. Usually the same side you were scratching to begin with. Yeah, everybody who knew Herbert would tell you the same thing. Herbert was way ahead of his time. But that's only because he would set his watch ten minutes fast. And Herbert was always doing stuff like that. If he had a faucet leaking he would take a big hose and fit it over the end of the faucet and run the hose outside over the the neighbor's door downstairs. Then he would call them up and ask them if it was raining. Pure genius. But there were few who really knew Herbert. He was a quiet genius. But he was always reflecting on the nature of the world and our part within it. He would never let a moment go by that had extra ordinary potential. He was very sensitive to such moments. One day, several years ago, while plowing the garden on his roof, he stopped and looked out over the horizon. He chuckled to himself and went on. He was always doing things like that. And he was quite the innovator. For years people had buckled or tied their shoes. Herbert was tired of wasting all that time. At first he developed the velcro strips to hold the flaps together. And then it hit him. Reaching into his kitchen drawer he pulled out the magnetic discs he had been saving (I'm not sure what's all in that drawer but it nearly falls out everytime from the weight) and he sews them in one side. Then he took the broken fork he'd been saving (in that same drawer) and developed the first magnetic flap fastening system ever for a shoe. Of course it wouldn't catch on until a Nike executive just happened to be walking in Central Park one day. But Herbert never really wanted money. He just wanted something easier that would work for him. It was this same attitude that created the hostility Herbert felt towards politics. Anytime someone would bring up an election or some other mention of politics Herbert would say the same thing. "They're just a bunch of jerks without the expertise of even trying to be jerks." That was one phrase of Herbert's that took a few years to really grasp the true meaning Herbert was intending. Herbert had no love for any of the process. And it was personal. Herbert had lost his wife to politics. One day, while Herbert was weeding his garden on the roof, he heard his wife of thirty three years yell out the window, "I'm leaving you, you Schmuck!" and that was the last he ever heard from her. It wasn't until years later that he learned the awful truth of the cabinet position she was chosen for and had left him for. Secretary of the exterior was not a well known position but a position none the less. And he was never sure how she was qualified for such a post or how she even knew the president. But Herbert vowed that day to never forgive the president or politics in general. For Herbert, even though he couldn't stand the old hag, was still a man of principle. You don't just leave your husband after two or three decades 'cause the president asks you to. And especially for a post that no one's ever heard of. Herbert died a lonely and fruitless man. He would always regret never planting any fruits in that garden he loved. But the Herbert we remember was a man who would always be remembered for those free tokens. Now I have to pay for those car washes. But my aim with the air pistol has gotten a lot better. And the birds are a little bit more skinny. Sometimes you just have to let life catch up to you. Or set your watch a few minutes slow. My name is Rueuhy and I approve this blog.

The longest runway

In my mind a creative force reckons with a factual mindset. For me I love technology and dreaming of the what if's. But there are parts of my brain that isolate the crap that goes beyond imagination and creativity and I file it away under impossible. Then there are the files that go beyond impossible. It's kind of like the "Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me" bin. The kind of stories in movies or clips in videos that require me to dig into that bin and take a look so that the whole premise will pass muster and I'll be entertained. So, how important is it for me to be entertained? That's the question. I do like to be entertained. I enjoy a good movie or tv show or youtube video. But it's not so vital for me that I put my brain on hold and allow myself to drop several i.q. levels so that something will make sense to me. This seems to be occurring at a high rate in the movies coming out of Hollywood (and elsewhere). If the premise is so beyond reason to begin with then I'm okay to allow my creative mind to ponder a possibility. Such as the case in the recent Oblivion movie. Our world had been destroyed in a world war with aliens. Ok. No facts to back up any of the story. It was a sci-fi movie. I can go in to the movie and allow myself to journey to another time in the future and see the what-if's. I'm really ok with that and I love the possibilities. Then there are the movies like Life Of Pi. There's no way an island was filled with lemurs and eats it's inhabitants. But it was a fantasy movie with a really good story line and great visual effects. Really liked it. Then there are the thriller adventure type movies. No, a man can't jump from 20+ stories and somehow fly/maneuver through the air and hit the top of a car with his back into it and not suffer internal damage. Unless you're Bruce Wayne. But it's ok because he's a superhero. You want him to be ok. You want to know that some men are beyond mortality. But then there's the "jumping the shark" moments when you either shut your brain down and forget all of the rules of physics and allow a movie to feed you a huge line of manure. This recently happened in the newest installment of the action packed thriller (there were probably 45 minutes of action and several moments where I dozed off) Fast and Furious. Fast and Furious 6 has fast cars. It had those moments where the cars were going fast. And occasionally every car was flipping over and crashing. Then there were the moments where the cars were revving their engines and then they were going fast. But there where several moments where I closed my eyes just before stupidity closed in. (Warning!! The following is a movie spoiler but does it matter?) Van Diesel leaps from his car on the interstate (actually he's propelled forward from his car as it crashes) and flies across an open space of interstate that's suspended several miles up from the earth and catches in mid-air the love of his life as she's propelled off her tank as it get stopped from dragging a car on a wire that gets caught between the supports of the interstate. As he catches her in mid-air air he continues across the open (mile high) meridian and lands on top of a car that had stopped moving at just the right speed. (I forget things such as if the car was stopped or moving but my brain had stopped functioning at this point.) As the two look crazily at each other they get up as if they just tripped on the sidewalk or something. I believe I actually closed my eyes before they landed because I knew exactly what was gonna happen and my brain just couldn't take any more stupidness. It was beyond the realms of possibility and I just couldn't do that much more impossibility to my brain. That was one of many impossibilities that the movie wants us to forgive so that we'll be "entertained". There are moments such as two men fighting on top of a freight car careening down the tracks going over 60 miles an hour that we can forgive because somehow it is possible. Then there are the movies which have us believe that the human body can endure fist fights that seem to last 20 minutes and suddenly the fatigue catches up to them all though the first two minutes should have done them in. We can forgive these scenes because they enhance the story/adventure and add the thrill in thriller. Or there will always be that moment when little Johnny (who should have died somewhere between the opening credits and 15 minutes into the movie)gets the magic cure that saves his life and we see the happiness that follows because it would have been too sad for Johnny to have died at such a young age and now the mother and the stranger (who's fallen in love with the mother and now loves the son)can start their new lives together. The mother and the stranger met on the bus or at the bus stop or she spilled coffee on him as she was waiting on him at the restaurant where she makes minimum wage but somehow her son is able to stay in the hospital for months waiting on "the cure" to happen. It's all so far fetched but we allow it. It's for our entertainment so we forgive them for lying to us and pushing the boundaries of our creative processing. But please don't push a 25 mile long runway on me. (Warning!!! Another spoiler for Fast and Furious 6 that doesn't really matter because you know there cars are just too fast to lose.) So, the last car chase begins down a long runway. A runway that stretches from the airport and goes 20+ miles across flat land without hills or waterways or animals or trees or villages or convenience stores. For 15 minutes these cars are racing down the runway and the plane just can't take off. This cargo plane filled with a couple of cars (one drives off the plane and it's still too heavy) and some wooden cases and some plastic cases. But don't add the weight of a couple of grown men. That's just too much weight. So, the plane keeps taxiing down the runway. At full speed. For 15 minutes. Towing several cars on wires. And being shot at with canonized wire launchers. And no one trying to shoot the tires. Or the cars are not fast enough to get ahead of the plane to shoot the pilots. Or no military intervention from the military who are the ones who have lost the "CHIP!!!!!!". Nope. Just a cargo plane going at full throttle with a bunch of cars following it going at full throttle for 15 minutes. Down a perfectly flat runway without any lights. At night. At some point my brain gave up and I just hoped my soda would out last this final scene. At least a few lucky ones could jump from the cargo hold of the plane several hundred feet above and land squarely into the jeep running at a constant speed under the plane and they land perfectly into the back seat. And only after 15 minutes of going down that runway. But perhaps the most unbelievable part was the end scene where the girl who was living in paradise with van diesel just walks away when the she realizes that the other girl with amnesia should be the winner and so what if they were living in seclusion on a remote tropical paradise. He did love her first and the poor thing does have amnesia. So what if she had everything. After all, she's a cop before anything else. And that's where I was pronounced brain dead. Yeah, I could possibly believe a guy leaping off a crashing car and catching the girl in midair several hundred feet off the ground and crashing into the other side of the interstate onto the windshield of a car. Yeah, I could possibly believe a 15 minute runway and the ultimate ball of fire as the plane immediately explodes and is fully engulfed and of course the hero walks through 2000 degree flames. But you honestly believe I would believe a woman living in paradise would just walk away to her cop "family" and let him continue on with the girl who is suffering from full amnesia? I can only take so much. My name is Rueuhy and I approve this blog.

The school bus or traveling psych ward?

As any good driver would do I slammed on my brakes as I noticed the school bus sign swing out. As the little man stepped off the bus I felt his gaze turn upon me. He couldn't be more than 8 years old but his eyes held the wisdom of the ages. As he looked at me I suddenly felt very alone and afraid. There was a hidden power in those eyes. Someone, somewhere, once said, "Don't give him any sugar. It'll make him hyper." And it is still true today. The boy did not take another step toward the house for what felt like an hour until his father called to him from the front porch. But I could not leave for the sign still remained. The symbolic "STOP" that was of the highest authority in our land. And he could not turn his gaze from me. We were in a silent war brought upon us by no one really. I did not choose it neither did he. I wasn't really sure why he was looking at me. What had I done to him? He would not turn and simply walk to his house. What was keeping him so curious about me? What was to be my fate? I had literally met thousands of children in my travels but none as strange as this young man. Would I have the courage to go on? Would his father be able to get his attention so he would just go inside? How many other victims would suffer the poisonous stare from him? Perhaps it was the thoughts I was thinking prior to stopping. Could he have heard what was playing in my mind? Did he know my little skit I was playing out when I saw the bus come to a stop. The little skit went something like this: I was enjoying a brief excursion to pick up parts for the work I was doing on a street not too far from the street I was currently on. As I saw the bus coming to a stop and the sign swinging out I came up with a funny little scene in my mind. I was talking to an unknown, unseen passenger and I was talking about the rules of the road. "Sure", I said, "you have to stop but there's no law that says you can't wail on your horn to make them hurry up across the street." I chuckled to myself as I saw the shocked look on the unknown, unseen stranger's face in the seat next to me. "Yeah, just wail on the horn and yell obscenities until they hurry up and get across." I even described a scene where the cars front tires were locked up and smoke was coming from the back tires. The children would run across, driven by the fear of being run over, when the brakes finally let the smoking tires in the rear engage the pavement and the car would careen forward and the wide eyed expression of the child as the car lunged forward. "Ha, ha, ha" I laughed out loud as my van came to a halt and I watched the child exit the bus. Then reality came crashing down all around me as I could not escape that cold, deadly stare from one as young as this one. "But there's no way" I said to myself. "He couldn't have read my mind. It was just a funny little skit I was imagining just to entertain myself." But somehow, through an unknown ability even his parents weren't aware of, little Johnny had read my thoughts and felt the fear from my little skit. And then the fear turned to rage as he got off the bus. And the rage identified it's cause. And that cause was me. So for the next hour we did not dare move. My foot was firmly planted on the brake and I monitored the gas gauge to insure I would not run out while we were locked in this stare down. His father called multiple times and then, as I felt the final strands of lifeforce about to exit from me, the child turned away and waved to his dad and began the walk down the sidewalk to his house. But he did make one last stop. And took one last look. As my van approached 90 miles and hour I knew I had escaped with my soul in tact. But it will be a long time before I venture back to Webster street. And never will I watch any more children come off the bus. From now on I'll just pay attention to that mounted, swinging stop sign to allow me to continue. If I've learned one thing from this experience it's this - don't dare to dream when the school buses are out and about. He may be riding and waiting. My name is Rueuhy and I approve this blog.

8 tracks and dvd's

As I've mentioned before the hardest part about playing chicken is getting the head movements down. They do this rocking thing with their heads from the neck and it's not the easiest imitation. But I digress ... Mortality is the word for the day. Mortality this and mortality that. It's a curious word filled with t's and a m and several vowels. But the meaning of the word is definitely a finality to the human existence within the usual life form we humans take on. As we visit this place called earth and confuse the crap out of our parents for the first twenty years or so it becomes evident that the passage of time and the evolution of music media continue on. It was really Thomas Edison that invented the first iPod. Consisting of a metal dough roller and a needle to record on the metal dough roller the first Dubstep album was completed. He would later invent the cylinder phonograph in 1877 which would lead to the 8 track a few short years later. Thomas was the first of many to "rock out" but he did it before anyone else ever thought of banging their heads or trying to be cool. He would also invent the portable mister to help oneself cool down on a hot summer day. But this was done more out of selfish reasons rather than motivated by a heart for society. His mother called him one of the most selfish people she had ever met up until the day he introduced her to dc voltage while she was taking a bath. Elephants did not fare any better by his experiments with ac current neither. But this had to do with Tesla and his new ac motor. Tesla believed that ac current was a better form of electricity and could be transmitted much simpler and cheaper than dc. It was their collaboration, much later, on several rock albums that the true genius of Edison and Tesla was seen. Highway to Hell and Hell's Bells would become two of their best selling singles under thier synonym AC/DC. But music has taken on many forms in its recorded media. From the Victrola to 8 tracks to bluegrass music our entertainment forms have been varied throughout the years. I, myself, can remember shopping at our old Walmart for single 45's while Mom completed her shopping for the week. With my one dollar allowance I could buy songs from the old Bee Gees (not that Saturday Night Fever stuff - I'm talkin' OOh, You're a Holiday, Everyday) and classics like Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody which was actually sold in two 45's because the song was so long. The second record contained illustrated instructions for proper head banging during the musical interlude found at the 4 minute mark. I still have my signed version from Freddie Mercury stored in a security deposit box at our local bank. It is a shame I had to break it in two to fit in the box but you do what you have to do. My brother would also shop for music and we would yell at each other "Hey, that's mine." or "Get your x?!&ing hands off that 45, it's mine." Or "If you don't put that down I'm gonna cut you." Those were fun days filled with memories of cigarette smoking cashiers who would throw your new found treasure into an old paper bag and ask if there was anything else you were gonna buy. Many of those cashiers are gone now. I like to think they're in a better place like Shopko or JC Penney's but I digress ... Music has changed much now. At this very moment, as I sit here in my boxer's with no shirt on, via the wi-fi, I can download music onto my phone without having to smell a single cigarette. The world continues to turn and the music marches on. Much like a marching band. And we wait in anticipation for the next form of media our music will take on. Someday it may just be implanted wirelessly into our brains via bluetooth or redtooth or greentooth or whatever else color tooth there may me. But it is exciting to dream and imagine where our music will come from. And what experimentation will provide us with our next entertainment. 'Cause we are bored very easily nowadays. It takes a lot for us to get excited about a new song or new artist because every Tom, Sally, and Lachocolate out there is a potential "unknown" just waiting to be discovered. And their 356 youTube videos they've posted of their newest cover songs will guarantee their stardom. Or American Idol or the Voice or Sweden's Got Talent. They'll be found and there's no stopping them. And once their privacy and sanity is gone (Have you seen Taylor Swift lately?) they'll be another name in a long list of names in our pop culture annals. But so goes fame and fortune. And so goes our sanity. As I mentioned so long ago, mortality is the word for the day. Because in the end the music will live on whether it's on a cassette tape or 8 track, digitized and scrutinized. But we are just mortals. And our mortality never outlives the music. So go ahead. Bang your head like there's no tomorrow. Because this could be your last day. And Wayne's World is still the best training video for correctly banging with Bohemian Rhapsody. My name is Rueuhy and I approve this blog.

The Greatest Scientific Breakthrough Not Yet Achieved

The thirst for knowledge would forever stir the creative and analytical mind of Dr. Terrence B. Davidson-Meyers, Jr. It drove him to research in the areas of mind control and altered-pacificitic altruism. In fact, no one had ever heard the term altered-pacificitic altruism until Dr. Terrence B. Davidson-Meyers, Jr. had coined the term in the early 90's. It was just one of those things. But the real story here is the breakthrough, perhaps the biggest breakthrough in research and development of any kind in the twentieth century, that the good doctor discovered quite by accident. And as with many discoveries discovered quite by accident, Mr. Dr. Terrence B. Davidson-Meyers, Jr. would not understand the full ramifications of his discovery until the end of his life. It was just one of those things. So, as the story goes, Dr. Davidson-Meyers, Jr. was working on a formula for dry roasted chocolate. A few had attempted this marvelous delicacy for many years but no one had refined the dry roasting process necessary for chocolate. This is what drove the good doctor more than anything. The desire to create something few had attempted and even fewer would recognize for its greatness. The doctor didn't get out of the lab much but when he did he never failed to make it to the 7 eleven for a quick fix of chocolate. It was the melting part he hated the most. Many an afternoon he would reach into his pocket after remembering he had some chocolate only to find a soggy mess that had melted inside his pants. And if it was one thing Dr. Terrence B. Davidson-Meyers, Jr. could not stand, it was a soggy mess in his pants. So, out of desperation for a solution the good doctor used the cancer research money he had been funded with to solve this dilemma that pierced his very core. How many times had he went to reach for that tasty treat in his pants only to pull out his hand covered in a huge brown concoction. The time was right and mankind would just have to wait for the cure for cancer. There are moments when we receive such clarity, such insight into our own well-being and this was one for Dr. Terrence B. Davidson-Meyers, Jr. So, like any good researcher knew, the answer could only be found through buying more equipment. It was at this moment our story takes on a new twist. The doctor understood a lot of chocolate would be required but forgot, temporarily, the effects of chocolate on the human digestive system. He also temporarily forgot that 7 Eleven was closed for the week for repairs from the incident involving the broken brakes on the bulldozer working across the street. He also temporarily forgot his diabetes. But, all of that did not matter at all to our story. It was the bathroom break that he would have to take before he went to the 7 Eleven. His favorite breakfast consisted of two bowls of Count Chocula breakfast cereal and this would result in a 10:am bathroom break every morning. But, in his excitement upon starting his newest research project Dr. Terrence B. Davidson-Meyers, Jr. forgot about his daily 10:am break because it was only 9:45 and he would never jump the gun on things of this triviality. So our doctor was out the door on his latest mission. It wasn't until 9th and Edwards street that the doctor was reminded of his 10:am routine. He ran. He ran as fast as he could back to the lab but alas he was too late. As he got off the elevator turned backwards toward the unfortunate people who shared that elevator ride the brilliant doctor came up with another breakthrough in a long line of breakthroughs. He would solve the dilemma that faced every man, woman, and child on this planet. The equalizer of the rich and poor. The trait we all had in common. Some refer to it as the poopy dance. Others refer to it as the "I gotta go and you have to let me in now!" yell. But we've all been there. The need to evacuate the waste products that have accumulated within our own body. So the doctor started his newest research in a two step process. One -understand the electrical impulses that cannot be overridden by any internal command from our brain. Two - develop an internal mechanism by which we can control when and if we evacuate those waste by-products of food and drink intake. The doctor would spend the remaining years of his career to find such an answer. After 40+ years of funding, de-funding, gambling, begging, and borrowing Dr. Terrence B. Davidson-Meyers, Jr. had the answer. It was a warm brisk morning on April 5th, 2036 that Dr. Terrence B. Davidson-Meyers, Jr. exited his lab and walked briskly down the street to his favorite 7 Eleven for his daily fix of chocolate. Triumphant and jubilant the good doctor had the answer. A little bit of mind control combined with self-hypnosis and a pill he liked to call anti-laxative, Dr. Terrence B. Davidson-Meyers walked happily down the street toward his local 7 Eleven. It was at that very moment that luck and a sleepy taxi-cab driver would meet Dr. Terrence B. Davidson-Meyers, Jr. on that fateful day. The doctor would never wake up from the coma and would die seven years later with a secret he alone would know. The answer to the most common problem mankind had always faced and never conquered. He had the answer but like any foolish mad scientist will tell you it was his and his alone. No one would ever see the notes or find the hard drives he kept the files on. No one would steal his greatest triumph. And no one would ever know without his name being known as the founder of Terrence B. Davidson-Meyers, Jr.'s alpha derivative. The hours of waiting for the bathroom would have been saved for millions. The untold accidents from drivers speeding home to go #1. All of this was the dream for Dr. Terrence B. Davidson-Meyers, Jr. and no one would ever know he had solved this greatest problem for mankind. It was fortunate that 10 years earlier his young assistant, who had diverted money to the cancer research the lab was originally given, had worked tirelessly towards an answer and discovered the cure. But true greatness can only be measured by the amount of benefactors of such work. It is true that his assistant was responsible for saving the lives of millions. But who can measure the suffering of billions who have ever stood outside the only bathroom door and yelled, "Hey, what the heck are you doing in there? Are you gonna be done soon?" Only history can give us the answer. My name is Rueuhy and I approve this blog.

Let me be clear on this

Sometimes we find out quickly. Other times we find out after years of being lied to and the lie is so convincing. I'm the type of person that scrutinizes everything. Really? Two for one sale? How much is the normal one for sale for? Do I have to buy two and then get one free or do I just pay the price of one and you give me two? Does the warranty still apply for both? Is there a warranty on the watches you're selling out of the back of your truck? Will you be here next week if there's a problem with either one? These are the questions I ask now. When I was younger I fell victim to a scam while I was in the military. Can you imagine a young man from west central Illinois without much life experience with a military haircut on a beach in San Diego would be the target of a scammer? Well, it happens. I was sold a camera (it still sits in my dresser drawer as a reminder of life when you could still buy rolls of film) and it came in a packaged deal. You had to take photos with the thing. And, there were literally thousands of dollars worth of coupons for developing the film. It came in a bag and a three ring binder filled with coupons and coupons of developing credits. You just had to take the pictures. Now the camera itself was a nice camera. It even had this circle that you had to adjust just right with your manual focus ring so that you were taking the most awesome picture you could imagine. And you only had to find a store that took that coupon or mail the roll of film off with the coupon and hope it came back developed. And there were hundreds of coupons in that three ring binder. So, if you did mail off the film, with the hopes it would return, you had to pay the postage to mail it. And then you had to wait the week for it to be processed. Now, imagine going through that today. We can't even wait the twenty seconds for a photo to upload via the wireless routing or data connection on our phones. And then, after twenty seconds, we feel fulfilled. Because the memory is documented. But twenty five years ago, actually closer to thirty, there was no uploading or cloud memory or the word digital was something you mentioned in front of alarm clock or wristwatch. We have changed in the past thirty years. Some for the better but a lot for the worse. And we're more tired. We push ourselves and fill our hours with so much nonsense and extra stress that really is unnecessary. For example - two guys open facebook accounts. Two girls open their own facebook accounts. The girl notices the other girl has posted a facebook pic with the guy in it. But the girl really likes the guy but the other girl doesn't know this but thought the puppy running in front of the table where the guy was sitting was adorable. The first girl confides in her best friend, the second guy I mentioned, that the other girl is uploading pictures of the guy she really likes but can't tell him because he doesn't have a public profile. Now the other guy feels a little threatened by the first girl I mentioned because he has a secret about his feelings for the first guy I mentioned but doesn't have the courage to make his orientation public on facebook yet so he secretly has a crush on the guy that the first girl has a secret crush on. Now, the second girl has a crush on the second guy I mentioned and doesn't know that he's on the fence if he's fully gay or just unsure of who he is. Now the first guy, without knowing any of this drama, decides to look up people from his old school on facebook but wants to keep his profile private without attracting any "loons". Without realizing what he's doing he invites the third girl (I hadn't mentioned her yet) to become his friend because he's mistakenly requested her friendship even though she isn't the same gal he was originally thinking of. But the third girl is friends with the second girl and without knowing what she's doing, accepts the friend request from the first guy which infuriates the first girl who is already friends with the third girl who has no idea that the first girl, who she friended because they used to work together at a Taco Bell when they were in high school, has a stalker thing going for the first guy. The first girl decides to slash the tires of the third girls car and the officer who shows up to take down the information is the second guy I mentioned. When he recognizes the third girl from the his facebook friend's pictures in the first girl's account he starts to realize who she is and decides that the third girl needs to come in to the precinct and answer a few questions about where she was the night before when he notices her McDonald's uniform and remembers a report filed about a robbery involving someone in a fast food restaurant uniform who stole a wallet from some guy (not part of this story) in her neighborhood. So goes life with facebook. But we're killing ourselves through unnecessary stress. And the scams perpetuated on the internet are countless. Everyday, if you actually looked at the spam heading in your email account, you would see offers for many cures and money investment schemes and other offers too good to be true. And we think it's just mostly on the internet. But we have it in real life also. Ever listed an electronic on craigslist? Oh the joy of weeding out the terrific, too good to be offers to pay extra for your item if only you would ship it to their half-brother who just took on a missionary journey for his church and they just left on a business trip and can't pick up locally. What!!!???? You'll pay me an extra two hundred dollars to ship it and all I have to give you is my paypal account information? What a deal. So life is exhausting even when you're just trying to clean the closet out and get rid of that extra iPhone. What has happened? And we fight off the scams so much but the really big scams are treated with an air of calm and rationality. Well, he's the president and I'm sure he knows best. Surely the I.R.S. wouldn't use their influence to ruin a man's life through audits just to facilitate the results on an election. I'm sure the United States Attorney General wouldn't lie to the public about something as serious as a gun program gone bad. But we, (not me because I'm pretty vocal about these scammers), just accept the scam and try to go on. Life is filled with too many important things like facebook and angry birds. And has it really been two days since Twitter heard from you? What kind of uncaring, out-of-date recluse are you? If only we paid as much attention to the head guy in the White House as we do to our friend's newest uploaded picture. But we can actually say something to them can't we? We can actually start a fight with that uncaring radical who accepted that friend request from the dirtbag who broke up with us twenty years ago but what can we do about the unimportant things like the leadership of the country we live in. I'm just a waiter in a family restaurant and they're gonna do what they're gonna do in Washington. And even here in our local politics the machine continues to grind away at our freedoms and economy until it's just another day in the neighborhood. What can I do? I gotta keep working and buying groceries. No matter how soon the wheel is gonna fall off we are afraid to rock the cart as they say. The rabid dog isn't biting me so why would I want to poke it with a stick. It might turn it's crazed eyes on me and then I'll have to protect myself proactively. So scams are scams and we just try our best to not get taken by the promise of an internet email. But the really bad scams are so bad, so complex, so dirty, and so ingrained into our world we choose to not see them anymore. And the few who do make a stand for the rest of us will be executed after the next convenient agency meeting of the minds controlled by somebody but not the President of the United States. Because that would make him no more better then that guy that just sent you a friend request you never even met before. My name is Rueuhy and I approve this blog.